Adventures of the Supersized 6

VBS is done for this year. It was a relief to know that it was over and that what I set out to accomplished was achieved. The kids that attended had a better understanding of God's promises, and Christ's presense in their own lives. Praise be to God! We had 41 children go through the program throughout the week. We had set a goal of 40 and I am glad that we met that. It gives us an idea of what to plan for next year and it has laid a foundation for a children's ministry to be implimented. Aaron and I got plenty of compliments for a job well done. It is hard to say thank you when you feel you simply doing what was needed and what God asked of us. There is a warming of the heart in knowing that the hard work you did put in was appreciated by others. And to have littles come up and hug on Aaron and myself was all that we needed. For those of you that helped, you have no idea how much I appreciate it. And for those of you that prayed I am equally greatful! You are treasures to me and the kingdom of God. Dig It!! (That was our big phrase for the week) =)

So today was my first big college test in some 9 years. I was a little nervous about it, but I felt I had studied enough and with it being open book how much easier can it be? Oh....Dr. Ghebre-Ab starts to had back the results and I feel instantly hot in the face when I see an 80 on my scantron....80? How can that be? On an OPEN BOOK test!!??? I felt very confident and double checked my answers before turning it in. During our break some of us started to compare and realized that we had all gotten the 8 questions that had an "all of the above (or below)" as a response. I asked for a copy of the test questions to review what I had gotten wrong. In fact those were the ones I had gottnen wrong. I looked further and remembered that durring the test two of the three possible aswered applied to the question but not all three; therefore it was not a technical "all of the above (or below)" answer. The majority of the class did what I did and picked the most obvious of the two that applied and moved on, and the majority of the class got an 80 like I did. There was one girl who I guess figured it was all of the above (or below) and marked it. She got a 90. When questioned about it, Dr. Ghebre-Ab said that we should have marked "all of the above (or below)". Which I internally argued should not be since not all three of the other options applied to the question. Hmmm...let me see. Question: The motivation for the British to migrate to the Americas was: 1) Civil war, and religous separatism? 2) lower supply of food and goods to sustain the growing population? 3) The desire to form the first British American circus? 4) All of the above. Hmmmm....now #3) may be part of said motivation, but it was not in the text, but #1) and #2) are in the text. So if I mark All fo the above that is right!!??? Whatever. We will find out on Wednesday if we are going to be graded on a curve or not for today's test. I guess from now on if two of the 3 options fit I should mark all of the above (or below)!!! I did however get very good compliments on my essay assignments. Dr. Ghebre-Ab even held on to mine to show some of the others turning theirs in for his initial how to do it the right way. Hmmm....I wonder if I can ask for a 20% extra credit for getting it right the first time!? =)

Coming up: Madie starts her American Heritage Girls camp tonight. She is excited to be with the girls, and I am glad to have her doing something other than swim like a fish. We are also getting ready for our fun weekend with the family. It sounds like a smaller crowd this year. But with growing families there will be scheduling conflicts as everyone tries to divide their time with both spouses family.

Well on to the next chapters!

TLM

So I am knee deep in reading, I have to read 2 chapters, 78 pages. Then go over my notes from lectures, go over the list of 40 things that my instructor said would be test content and review the chapters with those 40 items in mind. I have to get my "learning mastery assignment" done. This assignment is writing "2-3 fully developed paragraphs, with fully developed sentences" for about 9 questions or statements for the two chapters. So, about 18-27 paragraphes. This is due Monday as is the test I need to study for. I better get used to it, in September I will have 4 classes.

VBS could not be better. Well maybe a few lessons are being learned along the way, but really it is going great. Bottom line- the kids are learning bible stories, and along the way they are realizing God's promises for each of them. God Loves you, God knows you, God treasures you, God forgives you, and God is with you always. DIG IT!!
The leaders have been wonderful and we have had as many as 37 kids this week. We have had 4 teen helpers and I think I counted 17 adults making it all run smoothly. It is chaos but what a blessing it is.

We are also gearing up for the big Cooke invasion. For one weekend every year in the hot July sun roughly 30 of my mother in laws tribe travel from the far away lands of Springfield, Columbus, Dayton, and DeGraf to celebrate the independance of our country. Some pitch tents, or they find some floor inside, some even travel to North Main street to sleep. All bring goodies to share, and we play ridiculously silly, yet fun games. We eat, we laugh and we be merry. We also luanch fireworks which is fun too. This year we can swim if we want as well. It is looking to be a fun time this year.

Dispite all the rushing here and there I have to take a moment and step back and see how God is working through each moment. It is a wonder to realize that even though it is very crazy and I feel like my handle on it all is slipping, God has it all in his hands. What a wonderful thing. I pray that he gives me the knowledge and stamina to get through each day.


TLM

Today was my first day as a Freshman (again). I was late, I didn't know how to access the account you get to communicate with your instructor and get assignments. I must have missed that at the orientation...The time was changed from 9:30-12:10 to 9:00 to 11:40. I know now. But it went well, and I love history so I should enjoy the reading and assignments. The upside! I didn't have word to help me write 9 years ago. It was paper and pencil.
Other going's on....Well tomorrow is the big kick of for VBS. I think I got it all together well and we have plenty of hands on deck to help. I am looking forward to seeing how the kids take it all in. It should be fun for all ages! Our nephew David is down for two weeks as well. He has grown to man size now. He is taller than me, well he is Aaron's size now. He is 12 but looks like he could share Aaron's clothes. His dad David is tall so I guess it all part of his genetics but I remember it was not too long ago he was Jake's size. There is 4 years between them and I am tying to fathom that Jake could be as big as David in just 4 short years. And with that comes a man sized appetite. I am glad we go to Sam's club! As for History, Aaron had a great father's day. He got a hose winder box thing, a deck box thing that keeps the toys and pool stuff orgainzed in a nice fashionable container, swim trunks, and Jake is going to take him golfing on Friday. What a deal! We got Don some golf themed desk stuff, and we treated for Chinese take out on Saturday. But the best part was that we all spent some family time together. That is always fun, and priceless.

Well I am off to read about early American History!


TLM

Not only are there tons of celebrity babies poping up, (or out) but I am surrounded by pregnant women. My neice, Aaron's cousin, my next door neighbor, a friend of ours from our previous church, and I found out this week that two of my friends are expecting at the start of the year. Oh, and my best friend Leslie just had her little handsome perfection a few weeks ago. All I can say is enjoy ladies, and I am glad it is not me this time. I have met my quota for increasing the national population and I wouldn't give any of them back, but I am so happy that I am done. I will gladly hold your babies, and I will go to your showers and enjoy every moment. I pray that each of your pregnancies is enjoyable and healthy, you have quick easy births and that you cherish every moment of motherhood. I can't believe that my baby is now a 15 month old marathon runner. It goes by quick. But after feeling like I was pregnant for 4 years, (it seemed like it!) I am glad to enjoy the next phase of this insane roller coaster of parenting. Get in, Hang on, and laugh!


TLM

The pool is now up and running. I could not believe how quick it went up. Then once it was up and we were filling it with water I couldn't believe that it was so huge. When you try to think of 16 feet wide, and then 4 feet high your mind plays tricks on you. Once the the beast was up I couldn't believe it. The kids got in once the hose was in and running. They did good at helping get the wrinkles smoothed out. I started the water at about 3:30 pm on Wednesday and by 8 am on Thursday morning it was filled and ready to go. The kids are living in the pool now and I got to spend some float time in there today. I am started to wonder why we didn't do this sooner!

So same story different day and different direction. The kids and I are on a Walmart run. I realized that Annika had only a handful of diapers and I needed to check on some craft supplies for VBS. I told the kids that they could look at pool toys while we were there. As I am on route 125 (the scene of a previous tire fiasco) I am nearing the 222 intersection and the entrance to East Fork State Park. Jake says he hears a noise. I pull onto the road that goes to the lake and I pull over. As soon as I open the door I hear the hissing...Oh no. I know that sound. I go around the back and sure enough it is the same back right tire going flat on me in a hurry. I jump back into the van. I knew I wouldn't make to Bethel and the tire store where I bought the front two tires in time. So I pulled into a new tire and lube shop that opened a few months back, Bantam Tire. I asked if the fixed flats and he comes around and hears the tire and sees that it is about done. He pulls her in and gets the tire off. I was hoping a patch would do the trick. We found a small screw and a gash that looks like there might have been a second screw inbedded in the tire. I have become more vigilant on that road and I never noticed anything on the road. But that tire had been suspiciously low this past week. So Bantam Tire was able to patch the two holes for me and we were on our way. I called Aaron and told him "You're not going to believe this...." Sometimes you just gotta laugh. What else could I do?


TLM

So Annika has been doing fantastic with her Therapy. She finally started to walk just before the 15 month deadline. She is moving around pretty well and sometimes even gets into a jog of sorts. There have been some things we have noticed but chalked it up to her continual development of walking and getting around. But it did raise her Therapist eyebrows. Enough that we had the Occupational Therapist come in to consult some things. It seems that Annika's head position issue that has been taken care of may have caused some delays with some of her sensory development. Nothing to worry about too much though. It is more like her equalibrium is out of whack and we need to make some adjustments so she can have proper internal balance. She has a lack of perception of distance when it comes to stairs, and inclines. Which this may explain some of the extreme caution she shows in walking, and moving around. So one thing that we are trying is a swing. I know right!? But they said that having her in a swing will help her. The things you never think of! We don't have a swing set, and Annika hated her baby swing, (I wonder why!?) so we never make her swing at the park and when we ar at grandma and grandpa's she is not one to sit in the swing for long. She fidgets and wiggles. So now we know why and we have to be cruel and make her sit through it some more to help her. Go figure!

As things develop I will post more. We hope Annika wil get into the swing of things. :)


TLM

Today was an important day for us. We were able to take care of a business deal that will give us a whole new out look on our future. I am greatful for the opportunity and I hope that we can use it to our full advantage in restructuring our future.

Yeah for us.

In other news: Things are moving full steam ahead for summer. The kids and I are getting ready for father's day for Aaron, and Jake is acutally wanting to practice cursive in preparation for 2nd grade. Horrayy!


TLM

So my father in law Don is moving right along as Pastor at his new Church. New things are coming and we are seeing some really neat things coming about. Aaron and I prayed, debated, and sought the council of good friends and God and came the conlusion that we were needed to serve along side Don and Marsha at New Harmony UMC. I thought I could dig right in and join the VBS meeting since my kids were going to be most likely attending. As it turns out they have not had a VBS program in nearly 30 years. They were somewhat unfamiliar with the format of all the VBS publishers. Luckily my kids have been a part of VBS for 6 years, and I have helped out at most of them. The curriculum as it stands was a bit much for this small country church that was trying to get this set up in less than a month. I soon realized that I could give them some direction and scale the program down to their needs. Some stuff has been cut out or down to meet our size and budget. It will no doubt still be fun and the kids will be recieving the message that Jesus loves them and wants to know them. Which is the most important part. I have two weeks from today to have all the materials, supplies, and decorations completed. It sounds like a lot of work, which it kinda is but to know that the kids, mine included had a great time and come away knowing that they are loved then it will worth every moment. I have just been saying little prayers that God will give us all the direction we need and I know that no matter how small or big He will make it what it needs to be for those who need it the most.

TLM

As I sit here with little kitten teeth biting at my toes my little boy is sleeping away. He turns 5 today. Well actually at exactly 3:32 pm Central Standard Time. But whose counting? When we had Jake he was so laid back and relaxed. I was amazed at how everyone told me that boys were harder than girls. Jake seemed to be so easy. Then with Madie I could see how wonderful girls can be. She was easy as well. When we found out that Noah was going to be a boy I thought we would have an easy one like the rest. Well Noah is amazing in his own ways. He challenged our parenting, our patience, and our authority from time to time. We went through the "terrible two's" for about 3 years. It started at one and he finally grew out of it this last winter. But for every challenge there were times of him simply crawling on ones lap and snuggling. He is a loving little guy who is growing to be a fun man child. I can only hope that as he grows we grow to understand him more and see more of what an amazing gift from God he truly is. We have been blessed by him being part of our family. He just keeps us on our toes!

Happy 5th Birthday little man! We all love you very much!!


TLM